Norman and Goron awoke late the next day, having slept through and enjoyed the mattresses they hadn't experienced for quite a while.
When they found Mr.Steinbrauer and asked him for breakfast, he gave them some of the past days cold soup, mentioning how he kept some because he normally wouldn't serve breakfast and they didn't have the money to buy fresh bread.
Soon after they were done with their soup, the inn keeper sent them on their way, where they spent quite a while searching for the adress they had been given by the hooded stranger.
Differing from anything they expected, the Schmiede straße was in a nicer part of town, just outside the walls that separated the middle class from the nobles.
"I think we are a bit underdressed."
Goron mentioned, with Norman grunting in agreement and Frostbite yipping to throw her opinion in.
Schmiedestraße 13 was a small pastry shop with many beautiful looking cakes and pastries displayed to everyone walking by the shop.
A high pitched bell began to ring as they opened the door, the stares they received on the street exchanged for the curious gaze of a young woman behind the counter, an occurance wich Goron noted as a positive change.
"Hello, mam, we are Goron and Norman, here to conduct pest control and make sure everything is running smoothly."
They greeted her, the small bow Goron proposed to Norman rejected on behalf of the fact that true Njord should never bow unless it is to prepare an ambush. Something they both were pretty certain was not their plan.
She giggled at that, nodding as she stood up.
"My name is Maria Cortain, Please follow me, mr. Leonard is waiting for you."
And thus they followed her upstairs, an old man greeting them.
"Hello, thank you for bringing them to me Maria, please go to the counter again, unless you want to accompany us to the cellar."
He offered, making the woman silently dissapear and close the door behind her.
"Now, the rat problem is currently situated in the cellar, so you might have a bit of fighting in enclosed spaces to do. If you promise to not tell people about those rats, you get five cnar each and can keep the corpses for whatever purpose you want."
Norman nodded already, before Goron held a finger up.
"How about six cnar, we are after all risking whatever foul sickness the rats carry with them."
The man nodded and smiled.
"That sounds like a good deal, don't touch anything that doesn't belong to you and get to work."
They signed a contract and left the room, opening the cellar door and immediately recoiling as the stench of rot wafted up at them.
"What is it with young women behind counters followed by old guys sending us in their cellars? That is happening to the second time today, and thus one more time than I would think of as a coincidence. I think I even saw the same setup in many shops we passed on our way here."
Goron asked, curious how that would happen.
"You see." Norman answered at that, the door falling shut behind them and allowing Goron to concentrate and cast himself in an illuminating second skin, followed immediately by the normal second skin skill, which made the first break in all rainbow colours.
"The academy for nobles requires them to work one week a year in a job outside the inner walls, which seems to be this week. They do that in every aristocratic nation, even one as Jarl bound as Weistrana."
He noticed that Goron was only half listening, his concentration focussed much more on his colours.
"I got RGB, now everything will load much faster. I haven'tseen any male nobles though. " He said, something Norman attributed to his friends first life, and thus ignored as irrelevant ramblings.
He did use the sudden increase in lighting to search for the rats they were here to slaughter though.
"You can't know a nobles gender unless you somehow end up in the bed of one, the only ones you can identify as males are the Jarls, as they are traditionally men. Everyone else dresses in fancy clothes like those of the ladies we witnessed today."
He explained, smiling as he poked his speer at something moving in the shadows, a joy he didn't feel for two days at that point.
The skewered rat only let out a final squeak as it succumbed, more of the furred creatures leaving their holes and staring at them, beady red eyes reflecting in the darkness before them.
Now, noone would call Goron a man of weak will, at least not for long. But he never liked darkness, especially given that time he was locked away in his parents cellar for a week, or that his forst proper death was at the hand sof a shadow wielding crow. However one put it, he had ample reasons to hate the darkness. And thus, seeing creatures lurk just out of sight, he made it his personal mission to take that advantage away from them. He took the light mana he needed for a different spell and instead channeled it into ground bound, infusing everything around him with light and grabbing at the blinded rats to make sure they will never again terrorize poor five meter tall Njord.
It was a momentary lapse in judgement, and maybe not his smartest decision, but he was quite proud of its effects. The rats no longer hid in the shadow, and challenged them like real men. He did not calculate the rats rage as something noteworthy, and was thus surprised when glowing furrballs of agression jumped him and his friends, Frostbite and Norman doing their best to defend themselves against these pests, as Goron quickly send out a normal ground bound, only to use one filled wit frost essence only seconds after, the different techniques flowing to create a new skill.
Elemental aura [0] (mod) (skill): every living being in an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by Mana of your choosing, affecting the target as if it stood in an environment typical for that element.
"I got a new skill!"
He proclaimed, something Norman wasn't as happy about.
"You should really try to find something to cure the two of us, no way we are getting out of here without a few bites."
Norman complained as Goron filled the aura with frost mana, their resistance to it obvious as the rats grew sluggish.
They where ready to fight and absolutely shred their enemies.
Unlocked Skills
Spoiler
Respawn (Skill) (Unique): When you die, your soul is pulled back to the character creation screen with half your levels. Once here, you can build a new character and try again.
Once you press the create button on the character creator, you will be spawned at a place appropriate for your character.
Grounding (skill)(ground): While cast, this skill infuses the targets body with geound mana and forces it to remain on a surface below it.
Dash (skill)(air): Your movement speed increases by (move*skill level).
Tag stomp (skill)(Gravity): Target a creature and accelerate towards it at (lvl) times your normal speed. Cannot be used for the amount of time needed to accelerate before impact.
Restfull petrification. (ground): Your body is petrified for the duration you sleep. While you are petrified in this way, you are considered hidden.
You will restore (lvl) times the energy you would by sleeping the same amount of time.
Jet legs [1] (air) (skill): Air mana will concentrate in your entire body and focus on your legs. Once you activate this skill, you can gather ambient air mana for up to (lvl) seconds and release it at a later time explosively. One second worth of air mana can move you (lvl) meters in any direction and push everything else away.
Groundbound [1] (ground) (skill): an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by ground Mana, making everything within heavier.
Blizzard aura (ice) (skill): Raise your surrounding ice and turn it into a shield of projectiles. Born from memories of a fallen goblin, this skill has been optimized to spare the user any colloteral.
Second skin (Steel) (Skill): Coats the user in a secondary skin of Mana, reducing the damage received by [lvl].
Elemental aura [0] (mod) (skill): every living being in an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by Mana of your choosing, affecting the target as if it stood in an environment typical for that element.
Unlocked perks
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Spoiler
Fairy wings (Perk) Reduces weight by 1 kg and gives the user a magical flying speed of 10km/h.
-10 token
Magical body (perk): Your body is held together by magic. Your body can not be dispersed by non magical means, and everything you do counts as magical. Dispersing magic will deactivate this perk for the duration. Your natural lifespan will now be extended by 10% for every point you have in Willpower.
-5 token
Magus ¤ : This Perk allows a person to interact directly with mana
Thick bones (Perk): Your bones are two times denser than is normal for your race, making it harder for your body to be moved in any direction.
-5 Token
Thick skin (perk): Your skin is thicker than that of most members of your species.
-5 Token
Blubber (Perk): You hold a layer of fad under your skin. Increases your weight by 5kg for every meter of height you have, but allows you to thrive in much colder climates.
-5
Muscles of steel (Perk): Your muscles are naturally harder and more effective at movement. Your muscles are much more resilient than they would normally be.
-10
Unlocked Handycaps
Spoiler
Slim: Reduce the amount a creature weighs by 5% per level of this handycap chosen, which can be stacked up to three times.
+1 Token
Small: Reduces the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Heavenbound (handycap): Should you ever disconnect from the ground, gravitation will reverse for you. Any kinetic force excerted on you will be 100% more effective at moving you.
+8 Token
One armed (handycap): You only have one useable arm.
+30 Token
Bulky tendencies (Handycap): Your weight can not be reduced by more than 10% increases to your weight that hold for more than a day are permanent.
+15 Token.
Large (Handycap): Increases the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Overweight (handycap): You weigh 10% more than your race normally does. (Can be equipped up to three times)
+5 Token